Broadway’s Cort Theatre, located on West 48th Street in Manhattan’s Theater District, has been officially renamed the ‘James Earl Jones Theatre.’ The 18th century French-inspired building, which holds up to 1,082 people, is the theater where James Earl Jones made his Broadway debut in 1958.

A star-studded dedication ceremony featured actors Norman Lewis and Brian Stokes Mitchell, New York Mayor Eric Adams, and Samuel L. Jackson and his wife, LaTanya Richardson Jackson. Jones, who is 91, did not attend. The attendees shared remarks about the impact Jones had on other artists.  Said Jackson: “If you are an actor or you aspired to be an actor or you pounded the pavement in these streets looking for jobs and doing things — one of the standards that we always had was to be a James Earl Jones.”

Jones is an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner. He gave his first onstage performance at the Cort Theatre in 1958, playing Edward in “Sunrise at Campobello.” Jones also performed in 14 theatrical productions at Shubert theaters and starred in 21 Broadway shows, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com